


No Time For Love

by jusains



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Frank may have two cats as a treat, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Hot Chocolates Boy is Ted’s brother in this one and his name is Oliver, M/M, Requited Feelings but Ted is a coward, Time Bastard, Time Travel, and now it's 18 chapters long and time travel exists, idk they’re not even friends they just have the benefits, nightmare time, sometimes... you just write things, started writing this because i wanted them to make out in a toyzone storage room for a bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29857290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusains/pseuds/jusains
Summary: Time Bastard Au where Ted gets chased by his past and a stalker who seems to know just a little too much about his life.On top of that, he meets an old highschool acquaintance and starts something new (no strings attached).Each chapter will feature TWs individually in the top notes, if any apply.
Relationships: Frank Pricely/Ted Spankoffski, Frankoffski
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	No Time For Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ted goes to the Lakeside Mall to pick up his brother and ends up running into someone he used to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:  
> \- vague mention of car accident  
> \- mention of death

Ted usually doesn‘t mind picking up his little brother from the Lakeside Mall every once in a while. 

Because Oliver seems to enjoy hanging out with that guy working at the Cineplex and he wouldn’t be able to do that or at least not for long if it wasn’t for Ted picking him up and driving him home every once in a while.

The Lakeside Mall has the shittiest location ever, no buses drive there after five pm.

Oliver is sixteen so he could theoretically just get a driver’s license by now. He doesn’t though and whenever Ted asks him why, he just shrugs and says “You know..”

Ted doesn’t know though.

Or he supposes it could be because of their mom but he’s not sure about that.

Oliver was six when it happened, he probably barely remembers any of it. Ted doesn’t dare to ask though, they never talk about their mom.

It makes Oliver sad and it makes Ted sad and it makes their dad sad so instead of talking about it and maybe going to therapy, they ignore it.

Ted doesn’t really care about their dad anymore, not that much, but he cares about Oliver. And he thinks that guy at the Cineplex makes him happy and Oliver deserves to be happy.

He’s the only family member without a booze problem and Ted very much thinks it should stay that way.

They can’t all be failures, can they?

So Ted drives to the Lakeside Mall whenever Oliver asks him to, forty minutes to get there and fifty minutes to get back.

Ted usually doesn‘t mind, he really doesn’t.

It‘s just that on that one particular day, he’s not too thrilled about it because he has needs and hobbies too.

Just earlier that day at work, Charlotte was leaning on his desk and looking at him with that guilty look on her face, that she always gets when she wants him again. 

He could have had it all if it wasn’t for Oliver, calling and asking if Ted can pick him up later that day. 

“I can come over afterwards?”, Ted had suggested to a disappointed Charlotte. 

She just shook her head. “Sam will be back by then.” 

And that was it. 

So now Ted is driving to the Lakeside Mall, just a little annoyed and tired and overall not excited to be there at all and he minds it a little.

The parking lot is rather empty already and there’s no Oliver in sight.

He’s usually already waiting for Ted at the entrance of the mall but not on that day, it seems.

Ted sighs and gets out of his car. He locks it and makes his way into the mall.

When he walks through the mall, he sees that most of the shops are in the process of closing. 

The Cineplex is at the end of it so that will be a rather long walk. 

There Ted is, aimlessly walking through the corridors and having lost orientation just a little bit.

He stops walking when he realises he can just wait for Oliver to come his way. He pulls out his phone and calls him. 

He lets himself sink down on one of the benches as he waits for him to pick up and lets his gaze wander through the mall. 

There’s movement behind one of the shop windows and Ted flinches, thinking for some reason that it can’t be a person because the mall is almost empty and therefore it must be something supernatural.

Maybe Ted is a little paranoid, but who can blame him? He lives in Hatchetfield of all places. Weird things happen there. 

He doesn’t volunteer to pick up Oliver from the mall for no reason after all. He does it because he doesn’t want him to magically disappear and then reappear months later, telling a weird story about an Ape-Man that lives in the woods like that british woman that was all over the news a few months ago. 

Ideally, Ted would also like that to not happen to himself as well. 

Ted looks at where the movement in the shop window came from and only sees some boxes moving. Shortly afterwards a person appears behind them.

Ted even knows that person. 

It’s Frank Pricely from highschool. 

Ted knew that his parents used to own a toy store at the Lakeside Mall but he never really made the connection with ToyZone. It must be Franks now, right? Either that or he works for his parents.

Frank looks up now and flinches upon seeing Ted and for a moment Ted wants to laugh because he had the exact same reaction upon seeing another person there.

Then Ted realises that he was just staring at Frank and Frank caught him doing so and that’s actually kind of embarrassing.

Ted waves awkwardly as he lets his phone sink from his ear because Oliver is not picking up anyway.

Frank frowns and smiles and then he waves back. 

He has a pretty smile.

He got hot, Ted really can’t deny that. He has always been cute, Ted didn’t have a crush on him for a few months for no reason, but now he is more than just sort of cute.

Frank turned away again, having finished fixing the display and now he’s already back in the shop and Ted almost panics, having found himself desperate to at least say hello.

He gets up and before he knows it, he steps into Toy Zone.

Frank is at the check out counter, leaning halfway on it and sorting through a bunch of receipts.

“Hey”, Ted says.

“We’re closed”, Frank mumbles.

“Yeah, I know.”

Frank pushes himself up and looks at Ted.

“I know you, don’t I?”

Ted nods lightly.

“I’m Ted?”

Frank just stares at him, apparently waiting for him to go on.

“Uh, from highschool?”

“Yeah, I just.. I’m sorry, I don’t really remember.”

“I’m, uh.. I was that guy who got spaghettied by Linda Monroe in the cafeteria because I made out with her boyfriend in a storage closet.”

“Oh.” Frank chuckles. “Oh yeah, I remember that. I didn’t know it was you.”

“Yeah, that was.. me.”

“Didn’t you make out with Linda Monroe in a storage closet too?”

Ted shrugs and nods.

“Yeah.“

Frank smiles. “Do you have a thing for storage closets in general or..?“

“No! I mean, I don’t really care where-..” Ted stops talking when he sees Franks smile widen and realised that it wasn’t a genuine question. He can’t help but smile at that. 

“Anywhere is fine”, he still adds and throws a wink at Frank. 

“I see”, Frank says. And for just a moment his eyes skip down on Ted and Ted definitely notices. Maybe his attempt to flirt worked.

He knows he is theoretically only there to pick up Oliver but he already sacrificed his plans with Charlotte just to be there so he might as well get something good out of it. He might as well try and get a number at least. 

“So how are you doing?”, Ted goes on.

“Good.”

“Yeah, I see. Cool store.”

“Thanks.”

“Toys are great.”

Frank chuckles 

“Yeah. ..How are you doing?”

“I’m great.”

“That’s nice.”

Ted feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and figures Oliver must have texted him. But Oliver can wait for five more minutes. 

“So.. what are you doing here?”, Ted fumbles out, ignoring his phone when it vibrates again. 

“I kinda own this store”, Frank says, visibly confused.

“Yes! You do. You really do. That’s cool.” Shit.

“What are _you_ doing here?”, Frank asks, still not having asked Ted to leave for some reason.

“Picking up my brother.”

“Oh. Is he waiting?”

Ted shrugs.

“I have time, he’s with a friend. Besides, I’m talking to you right now, that’s nice.”

Frank frowns and smiles.

“Nice?”

“Yeah.”

“We barely know each other.”

“Yeah but.. I don’t know. You look good”, Ted says.

Frank hesitates. He opens and then closes his mouth, before he turns away from Ted’s gaze and reaches for the bills, stabling them together now. 

Should Ted stop flirting? He will stop. He doesn’t want to make Frank uncomfortable, it is getting obvious that he’s not interested.

Ted fumbles out his phone to see multiple messages from Oliver.

_‘We’re outside’_

_‘Where are you?’_

_‘Your car is here but you aren’t’_

“Actually I should leave”, Ted notes. 

“Wait.”

Ted stops, halfway in the process of turning away.

“Were you trying to flirt with me?”, Frank asks.

Ted hesitates because he has never been called out like this. Besides his attempts to flirt just completely crashed and burnt and if he’s being honest, he just wants to disappear at this point.

“Yeah?”, he quietly admits, looking back at Frank who seems.. surprised?

“Oh”, Frank says.

“Sorry, if I made you uncomfortable, I didn’t-“, Ted starts now.

“No, it’s fine, I just didn’t expect it”, Frank says. “Listen, it’s.. been a while. I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

“Overwhelmed but still a little intrigued?”

Frank chuckles and shrugs and then, to Teds surprise, he nods.

“I’m not gonna lie, that was terrible.”

“Ouch”, Ted says, pretending to be offended but he’s really not. 

Frank looks at him now, nearly scanning him for a moment.

“You don’t want anything meaningful, do you?”

“No”, Ted admits.

“I don’t really do this”, Frank says.

Ted raises an eyebrow. That’s what Charlotte says too, every time.

“Are you married or something?”, he asks.

“Would that change your mind about me?”

Ted shrugs. “It’s your decision if you wanna cheat, not mine.”

“I’m not married.”

“Huh.”

It has been a while since Ted had a thing with someone who is actually single.

And if he’s being honest, it always gave him some kind of security to know that he’s nothing but a meaningless affair.

The last thing he would want is for someone to catch feelings for him. It’s unlikely, but it might happen. It’s more unlikely if whoever Ted is seeing is married, so that always seemed more secure to Ted.

It always felt like other people’s marriage was a safety net for him, even if that makes him more of an asshole probably.

There were no feelings involved and Ted always knew that he would get pushed aside sooner or later and for some reason he actually found comfort in that.

A part of him - a really petty part of him – even likes being the asshole, the bad guy.

He’s not the kind of person to date, he can’t imagine anyone wanting something real with him and he’s not sure if he would even want that.

Maybe he does have some feelings for Charlotte that go beyond lust but he can absolutely handle it and at least he knows that she’d never want a relationship.

Clarity, that’s what he likes.

“Does _that_ change your mind about me?”, Frank asks now.

And Ted shakes his head and says “No”, even though it does a little.

But married or not, it doesn’t have to mean anything either way.

Frank smiles, then he lightly shakes his head.

“Maybe someday, Spankoffski.”

“You remember my name?”

“The spaghetti incident rang some bells, yes.” 

Ted hesitates, figuring that he should ask for Franks number.

“Can I-“, he starts, then his phone rings.

He ponders because it’s probably Oliver but he also doesn’t want to be rude.

“You should take that”, Frank says.

Ted shakes his head.

“It’s just my brother.”

Frank raises an eyebrow and Ted sighs as he fumbles his phone out of his pocket and takes the call.

“What?”, he asks.

“We’re at your car but you’re not there”, Oliver says.

“Yeah..”

“Where are you?”

“I’m.. busy.”

Frank smiles.

“Can you come? It’s cold.”

Ted sighs and looks at Frank now.

Frank nods towards the door, motioning for Ted to go.

“Give me a minute”, Ted gives in before hanging up.

“Is he alright?”, Frank asks.

“He wants to go home.”

“Okay.”

“I should.. sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Okay.”

“See you around?“, Frank asks.

Ted nods. “See you”, he says.

Frank gifts him a smile and Ted peace signs at him as he leaves, regretting it only a little.

It’s only when he steps outside that he realises that he forgot to ask for Franks number.

He hesitates, walking slower and contemplating on whether or not to go back in, when the homeless man stops him.

“Hey!”, he says, grabbing Teds shoulders and pulling him to a stop.

“Sorry, I don’t have anything”, Ted mutters, stumbling back and pushing past him.

“I need to talk to you!”, he shouts but Ted ignores him, figuring that he just got mad about Ted not giving him anything and it’s not like he can change Teds mind by arguing about it anyway because Ted genuinely doesn’t have cash on him right now. It would just be a waste of time for both of them.

He hurries towards his car where Oliver and the boy are waiting.

The man caught him so off-guard that he completely forgot about going back to Frank and gives up on it now, not wanting to walk past the man again. Maybe he can drop by ToyZone the next time he picks up Oliver.

“What did you do in there?”, Oliver asks, visibly annoyed.

“You should be more thankful that I came all the way to pick you up.”

Oliver rolls his eyes. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Can Milo come with us?”

“Huh?” So that’s his name.

“Like can you drive him home too? His bike broke down.”

“Yeah, sure, get in.”

Ted unlocks the car, sliding into the driver’s seat.

He looks back at the mall one last time and sees the man, just standing there and staring at him.

Something in that man makes Ted hesitate for moment. He seems so familiar.

Ted lightly shakes his head and starts driving.

He’s just familiar because Ted has seen him all around town often enough.


End file.
